The hill behind Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy.
Tang San was coming down the hill when Tang God King's voice rang out in his mind.
"Well? This 'earth nourishes wood' and 'drawing on the essence of plants' method I had you try is faster than simply practicing the Mysterious Heaven Skill, isn't it?"
Tang San kept walking and nodded slightly.
"It's certainly much faster, roughly three times as fast as before."
He had to admit that this so-called "future self" really did have a few tricks up his sleeve.
A simple adjustment in approach could double his cultivation speed.
Blue Silver Grass was weak, but it grew throughout the continent.
He only needed to find a patch of dense Blue Silver Grass, root his Blue Silver Grass martial soul in the earth, and draw the earth's energy upward.
On top of that, he would absorb the essence of the surrounding Blue Silver Grass and other plants.
By letting earth nourish wood and drawing on the essence of life,
he could form a crude Mimicry Cultivation Environment.
According to his future self, mimicry cultivation grounds were facilities exclusive to the top academies.
Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy certainly had no such luxury.
"Unfortunately, your strength is still too shallow. There are places you can't go yet."
"For instance, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is covered in immortal herbs. If you could acquire them early, they could greatly raise your soul power level and bring your cultivation speed up another notch."
"You should have noticed that cultivation resources on the Douluo Continent aren't scarce. They simply haven't been discovered yet."
"Ten thousand years from now, humans will have worked out many ways to rapidly improve their strength."
"Medicinal pills will become widespread. Mystic Water Pills cleanse the sinews and transform the marrow, while Soul Ascension Pills directly increase soul power."
"Later still, Spirit Ascension Platforms strengthen soul rings, Battle Armor boosts combat power, and soul cores improve endurance and break through bottlenecks."
Tang San listened in silence, but he began weighing things in his mind.
"But those were all things later generations worked out step by step."
Tang God King shifted the conversation, pride entering his voice.
"Whereas I watched twenty thousand years of the lower realm's rise and fall from the Divine Realm. I've seen all those pill formulas and methods."
"With a God King's level of understanding, I only need to alter a few key points to multiply those pills' effects several times over."
"Your current innate full soul power isn't actually true innate full soul power."
"Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer clash with each other. You shouldn't have had any innate soul power."
"Your so-called innate full soul power is merely false innate full soul power converted from the Mysterious Heaven Skill's internal energy."
"Your cultivation speed also comes from the Mysterious Heaven Skill."
"Without the Mysterious Heaven Skill, you would be even worse off than Teacher, stuck at rank nineteen for your entire life."
"I can combine immortal herbs with my reformulated pills to reconstruct true innate full soul power for you."
"I can bring your cultivation aptitude to the very top!"
Tang San's heart skipped half a beat.
"And then?"
"And then?"
Tang God King laughed.
"Then I'll map out the fastest path for you."
"Along with the advantage of twin martial souls, the timing of your Blue Silver Emperor bloodline's awakening, and the soul ring configuration strategy for the Clear Sky Hammer, I've already planned everything for you."
"Becoming a god before fifteen isn't impossible."
Tang San finally stopped walking.
"Before fifteen?"
"Yes."
"Ten years earlier than I originally did."
Tang San remained silent for a long time, then started walking again toward the academy.
That future self of his certainly had the qualifications to say such things.
But he still couldn't fully see how much scheming and maneuvering lay hidden within that "confidence."
Still, that was fine. He had plenty of time.
Deep within Tang San's Spiritual Sea, Tang God King looked down upon that young body.
A calm, confident smile rested on his lips.
He had voyeuristically watched the Douluo Continent for twenty thousand years, on top of possessing a God King's perspective.
Together, these things were enough for him to pave a straight road to godhood for his past self.
This was no longer a question of talent, but an overwhelming advantage in resources and knowledge.
He knew where opportunities others could only dream of lay hidden.
He even knew the secrets of medicinal pills that humans would only discover tens of thousands of years later, allowing Tang San to enjoy cultivation efficiency far beyond that of later generations in an age of scarce resources.
Since he was playing another round, he would naturally play this game faster and more ruthlessly.
After reaching the Divine Realm, he would take the lead in proposing its expansion and the strengthening of its power. Otherwise, if space-time turbulence appeared again, he might not have another chance at rebirth.
Tang God King was also thinking about seeing his wife, Xiao Wu.
In his previous life, he had chopped firewood, tended the fire, and cooked at four years old. Every time, his father scooped away most of the rice porridge, so thin that its grains could be counted, leaving him only a little rice water. Back then, he had thought his family really was that poor.
Heh. The Clear Sky Douluo, the youngest publicly known Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent, couldn't even get his own son some food.
He had done nothing but wallow in despair, run away, drink, and blame himself. Even Mother had been abandoned in a cave with no one to care about her.
Only after he went to the junior soul master academy had Xiao Wu given him a mother's tenderness and a father's protection.
She had even let him have meat and chicken drumsticks at meals. Her sturdy physique had made him feel utterly secure.
He really wanted to see this parallel world's Xiao Wu from the past again.
But there was still half a month before the time he would meet Sister Xiao Wu.
He also knew he couldn't rush it.
It was just that he kept feeling agitated, always feeling that he wouldn't get to see Sister Xiao Wu later.
"Master, where exactly is that rabbit you mentioned?"
Three figures hovered above the villages and towns around Nuoding City.
Yan Lingji looked around. They had already searched several villages without finding so much as a rabbit hair.
"Why would a rabbit be in a human village? Isn't she afraid of being hunted by soul masters?"
"Soul beasts undergo a lightning tribulation every hundred thousand years. Those without sufficient talent either scrape by until the next lightning tribulation, living another few tens of thousands of years, or abandon all their cultivation and take human form to avoid the lightning tribulation. But from then on, their lifespan is no different from a human's, and they have to start cultivating from scratch."
The two women exchanged a glance. "Isn't that just like the monsters in legends?"
"What happens after they take human form? Why burrow into the human world?"
"Because they have to come into contact with human presence to cultivate. Before rank seventy, they're in their juvenile stage and can easily be seen through by Titled Douluos or even Soul Douluos. Once exposed, killing them will yield a soul ring and soul bone. They're only safe once they reach maturity."
"So that's how it works." Both women nodded.
Yan Lingji pressed further. "Then why doesn't she find some remote little town to stay in? Why come all this way? This place is already very far from the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Because she isn't here to seek refuge. She's looking for her mother's killer."
"That's also why I've come looking for her. Her mother's killer is the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall has dozens of Titled Douluos, and even one of the Douluo Continent's two Peerless Douluos. But this pretext alone will be enough to make her sacrifice herself!"
"With this rabbit, I can also make the other two diehard lapdogs sacrifice themselves."
Ye Guixu then explained some common knowledge about this world's soul beasts to the two women, such as sacrifice and Soul Sacrifice, which could ignore all conditions and allow a soul ring to merge into a soul master's body.
Yan Lingji's and Tide Siren's eyes lit up at the same time, filled with unconcealable amazement.
Yan Lingji licked her lips. "Master, is this... killing three birds with one arrow?"
Even Tide Siren grew excited.
"She thinks she's taking revenge, but she's actually delivering soul rings and soul bones to Master. Master, you truly haven't let a single thing go to waste in this game you've laid out."
Yan Lingji nodded along. "Master is using one rabbit to pry loose two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and soul bones... This deal is far more profitable than going into the Star Dou Great Forest and killing them by brute force."
But immediately afterward, Tide Siren found herself troubled again.
"Master, since you can make her sacrifice herself, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring would be best for you to use."
"No, I actually have something better."
Ye Guixu gazed into the distance, staring at the faraway villages.
"The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's attributes are the best match for mine. It doesn't matter if its age is a little low. Afterward, there are still the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the Evil Eye Tyrant, and the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. My targets are these soul beasts aged hundreds of thousands of years, or even Million-Year Soul Beasts."
Before you continue